Potential for Harvard or any Ivy League school like Princeton or UPenn?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Currently, I am a sophomore and I am becoming increasingly worried with whether or not I have the capabilities to attend Ivy League school after I graduate from HS. Here's a basic description of what I have done so far:</p>

<p>Freshman year (H=honors):
H Alg 2
H German III
H Bio
H Eng 9
H Chinese III
AP World History (the exam I got a 4, sadly)</p>

<p>All of my grades for freshman year were As except for math, which I got B+ throughout the year (I stink at math, which is another reason why I'm worried colleges won't look at me since math is by far my weakest subject!)</p>

<p>Sophomore year (H=honors):
AP Physics B
H PreCalc
H Eng 10
AP Human Geo
H Chinese IV
AP German IV</p>

<p>All of my grades so far have all been As, with Chinese being A+ every marking period so far, but math has sadly dropped down to a B/B-. Which is another reason why I am so worried with getting into a good school like Harvard, since my math is so low compared to other classes. </p>

<p>Here are some other things:
-My unweighted GPA is a 3.876 (averaged with last year's) while my weighted GPA is a 4.6 (also averaged from last year).
-I am ranked 8th in my school with a weighted grade of 104%. Unweighted grade is a 96% (or 95, but I am pretty sure 96).
-I am currently involved with the school newspaper, as well as student council.
-I am also involved in competitive swimming, having earned several YMCA National cuts and I am very close to getting my first Junior National cut. I have also qualified for national meets like Grand Prix.
-I am planning on doing National Honors Society, and I have also been invited to become a member of my school's World Language Society (which requires you to get continuous As in your language classes; get one B and you're out.)
-I don't know if this is important, but hobbies include drawing and creative writing. I have earned several awards with the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, mostly silver keys and honorable mentions (I earned gold keys in middle school but I don't think that is important.)
-I am planning on taking the International Baccalaureate program come junior year, and will be attempting to earn the IB diploma. Perhaps the AP diploma as well, which I heard you could do alongside IB. </p>

<p>This is what is currently going on as of now. However, I am not so certain I will be successful at things such as the IB program, so as of now I cannot say that it will help me with admission into schools like Harvard. The reason I am aiming for Harvard is because I heard they have a good biology program as well as a good swimming program, whereas schools such as MIT are excellent in biology but lack the strength that Harvard has with athletics. When I took Honors biology in freshman year, it was one of my highest grades and I even got a 103% the one marking period, so I figured that biology would be the career field I would be most successful in. I might also take up piano as I used to be pretty good when I was young, but found that I didn't have enough time to fully continue once I entered HS. Perhaps, but not likely. </p>

<p>Would someone please evaluate me and see if I have the potential to get into Harvard (or any other good school like UPenn, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, or Stanford?) Thank you whoever takes the time to read my lengthy question, and I sincerely apologize for asking the community something trivial like this.</p>

2

<p>It looks like you’re doing all you can. Hold up your grades and get a 99% SAT and SATII. GL.</p>

3

<p>First, recognize that even if you are perfect statistically, Harvard is a longshot for you, or anyone. Just persevere through math and classes that will get tougher and do your best. Aim for 750+ SATII’s and a 2250+ SAT Score and keep working hard. Also look outside of Ivies; if you like Biology, consider schools like Johns Hopkins, UC Berkeley, and WUSTL as well.</p>

<p>You mentioned swimming; are you good enough to get recruited? That would significantly boost your chances.</p>

4

<p>According to collegeswimming.com, as of now I would be ranked around 5th among the Harvard swimmers. So yes, I guess.</p>

5

<p>Why are you taking IB if you already have AP at your school? You need to honestly ask yourself the question, because I was in your same situation. My school has an IB program but it’s really terrible and probably shouldn’t even exist (for example most classes are 75-90% AP curriculum despite being called IB). The only real reason I wanted to do the IB diploma was for the prestige/label. Obviously I don’t know anything about your school, but don’t do it purely based on that - it’s not worth it. If the reason is something more legitimate like all the good teachers are in the IB classes, then do it.</p>

<p>P.S. There is no such thing as an AP diploma (as far as I’m aware of - I hope I’d know if I’ve taken 8 AP tests already!)</p>

6

<p>wow, then u’d be in almost everywhere (if not everywhere). just relax, enjoy life, come back next year. move the stress by 24 months. :slight_smile:
ur definitely on the road to success!!!</p>

7

<p>@Petersuu they’re actually doing a pilot program at some schools. It’s called AP capstone</p>

<p>@college134nj not necessarily. although it would be true for 95% of schools, ivy’s are known to be extremely inconsistent in terms of admission</p>

<p>To the OP: You’re doing all you can, get some help with your math to pull it up as much as possible, colleges like to see that. They will be impressed with your heavy course load. You’re still a sophomore so don’t stress. The stress starts in your second semester of junior year. Still, keep up your grades, do well on the SAT’s and SAT II’s, continue your EC’s and prepare to write some really good essays (as mentioned don’t worry about it now, deal with it later)</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>